


Making Amends

by sleepismyfriend



Category: For All Time (2000)
Genre: F/M, Ficlet, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-04
Updated: 2011-03-04
Packaged: 2017-10-16 02:12:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/167310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepismyfriend/pseuds/sleepismyfriend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During a special trip away from Somerville, Charles and Laura have a stupid fight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Making Amends

**Author's Note:**

  * For [missbevcrusher](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=missbevcrusher).



> Prompt was Charles/Laura, hotel bar.

"Woman troubles, huh?"

Sitting on a bar stool in the hotel lounge, Charles swirled the whiskey in his glass several times before stopping, taking a sip, and then starting again. This sudden intrusion into his motions quite disrupted his addled thoughts about the evening's events, and he turned his head to the left to see who the voice belonged to.

An older man wearing a deep purple velvet smoking jacket leaned forward, ordered whatever Charles had been drinking from the man behind the counter, and had the glass in his hands before Charles answered.

"Nope, just havin a drink," Charles said, as the man turned back to him after taking a large swig of his drink.

"On a nice night like tonight? You really should be with that lovely wife of yours." The man was obviously astute, and Charles merely raised an eyebrow. "I mean no harm, honestly, it's just, I saw you earlier—"

The man continued to speak about random things as Charles's thoughts went immediately to his wife. Normally, his Laura was soft and kindhearted, someone who never wished for them to spend any time apart, even after several years of marriage. Their argument had been stupid, and Charles knew that when she had ordered him out of their room, she hadn't meant it. He could still see her, standing with one hand on her back and the other pointing towards the door as he left.

"—And so I was just wondering what you were going to name this child."

"Excuse me?" Charles set his drink down and turned to face the man fully with more than one question on his mind. The man's expression quickly changed.

"I just thought—"

"For someone who doesn't mean any harm, you sure as hell know a lot about me."

"Let's start over. I apologize. I'm merely an observer of people." The man tried to smile to shake off the previous expression as he set down his own drink, tapping his thumb against the edge of his glass. "Your wife is an exquisite creature, and pregnancy suites her well. Please, allow me to buy you a drink to mend what I have broken."

"I don't think so." Charles picked up his glass, finished what was left and set it down before getting up and leaving the lounge. He walked at a rather leisurely pace up the stairs of the hotel, and once he stood in front of the door to his room, he reached for the knob of the door without thinking.

A woman from his time would have locked the door, leaving him to fend for himself, but Laura was no ordinary woman. Charles smiled as his eyes immediately went to the sleeping form. Laura's back was to him, but he didn't care. He quietly toed off his shoes, and lay down on the bed, spooning himself around his wife. His arm barely grazed the small swell of Laura's stomach before he felt Laura's sigh, and his head shifted up so that his chin sat on Laura's shoulder.

"Hi," she said, opening her eyes.

"Hi." Charles felt her hands cover his, rubbing back and forth gently.

"I'm sorry about earlier, Charlie." Laura refused to allow her husband to see her glassy eyes, and rubbed her cheek against her pillow as their fingers found one another and entwined. "I shouldn't have gotten that upset—"

"Ssssh." Charles shifted so that his lips barely grazed Laura's ear. "I'm sorry too."

"I wish we were home." Laura sighed again. "I miss Mary."

"We don't have to stay—"

"You went to all this trouble for our anniversary, and I don't want to be the one to throw it all away. I'm hormonal, Charlie, it happens." Laura shifted so that she could lie on her back, and Charles accommodated accordingly by letting go of her and propping himself up on one elbow.

"You're beautiful. Even when you're hormonal." Even in the darkened room, Laura could make out Charles's smile, and touched his cheek.

"You deserve better."

"I already have better." He kissed the inside of her palm as his hand once again traced the slight swell of her stomach. "Someone downstairs asked me what I was going to name this child. Insinuating we had more than one."

"Really? What did you say?"

"Nothing. He opened his mouth and mentioned you, and all I could think of was you. Often happens that way." Charles focused on rubbing soft wide circles on Laura's belly, and Laura smiled.

"I hope it's a boy."

"We're not starting that again, are we?" They had had this conversation many times before, only to find themselves in the same place. Laura wanted a boy for Charles, but Charles had emphasized repeatedly that he didn't care. Happy and healthy was all he wanted.

"No. Just saying." Laura crinkled her nose before yawning. "Sorry."

"It's late. Why don't we get some sleep and we'll talk about going home in the morning, okay?"

"Okay," Laura said, as Charles leaned down to kiss her.

"I love you, Laura."

"I love you too."


End file.
